Although the preservation of liberty depends in part upon the maintenance of social order, the First Amendment requires that officers and municipalities respond with restraint in the face of verbal challenges to police action, since a certain amount of expressive disorder is inevitable in a society committed to individual freedom and must be protected if that freedom would survive. Pp. 471-472.

I'm actually really impressed by that response. Houston v. Hill is an excellent citation to use here, and it's a sufficiently obscure case that I know you had to do some digging to find it.

I still oppose the underlying premise upon which I perceive you to argue (that police officers, despite coming mainly from backgrounds of entirely average upbringing and education, should be expected to be perfect, flawless, emotionless guardians of justice immune to all manner of verbal and physical provocation), however I'm not going to question that perception at this time.

Utah state troopers who used a drug dog as a pretense to search a car belonging to an innocent woman are in legal trouble. The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on Friday ruled that the victims could sue the troopers for spending two hours rifling through their vehicle without finding anything unlawful, in violation of their constitutional rights.

Utah State Trooper Brian Bairett had been running a speed trap on Interstate 15 when a Jeep driven by Sherida Felders passed through. Bairett said he developed probable cause during the traffic stop because she was nervous, had an air freshener and her license plate holder said "Jesus."

Trooper Bairett accused Felders, a 54-year-old, of transporting cocaine. She denied the accusation and refused his request to search the car. After a drug dog was called in, Trooper Bairett explained the situation to its handler, Iron County Sheriff's Deputy Jeff Malcom.

"This lady -- you know, I walk up to the car and I see air fresheners in the center console and... I start talking to her, you know, just 'So where, you heading to?' 'Oh going to Colorado,' blah, blah, blah," Trooper Bairett said. "To me, I've got probable cause to search the vehicle without her permission or not, so I figured the dog would be the best route to go right now."

Trooper Bairett ordered two teenage passengers out of the Jeep, along with the Chihuahua that was riding in the back. Deputy Malcom explained he intended to leave the door open when the teenagers got out. Dashcam footage recorded what happened.

"Nice of them to leave the door open for you," Deputy Malcom said.

"Yeah it was, wasn't it?" Trooper Bairett responded.

Then the drug dog, named Duke, walked around the car and jumped right through the open door without alerting. Once inside, the dog alerted to the center console. It had two packages of beef jerky. The dog next alerted on the driver's door, which contained nothing. The lower court found the search improper and refused to grant immunity, so Deputy Malcom appealed.

Emails revealed by the American Civil Liberties Union indicate that Florida police made an agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service to hide information about specific cellphone-tracking techniques and devices they used.

In the initial email exchange, a Sarasota Police Department sergeant wrote that in a warrant application to a judge, a North Port Police Department detective had “specifically outlined the investigative means used to locate the suspect,” and the sergeant asked that the detective “submit a new [probable cause affidavit] and seal the old one.”

In other words, fix the old affidavit and keep the use of StingRay equipment secret, according to the ACLU.

A cop in Bradford County has been suspended for allegedly selling an AK-47 out of the back of the patrol car last week.

Laceyville Borough Police Officer Matt Chamberlain was on duty at the time of the apparent gun sale.

“I was shocked, I was shocked. Especially when there’s an automatic weapon involved and the public was exposed,” said Phillip Brewer, the mayor of Laceyville.

After this incident, the mayor of Laceyville suspended Chamberlain without pay.

...

It was in the parking lot at the Dandy Mary when witnesses said that Laceyville cop was selling an AK-47 out of the back of his police cruiser. People said it was bad enough that he was selling the gun, but at one point he walked away from his vehicle and the AK-47.

A cop in Bradford County has been suspended for allegedly selling an AK-47 out of the back of the patrol car last week.

Laceyville Borough Police Officer Matt Chamberlain was on duty at the time of the apparent gun sale.

“I was shocked, I was shocked. Especially when there’s an automatic weapon involved and the public was exposed,” said Phillip Brewer, the mayor of Laceyville.

After this incident, the mayor of Laceyville suspended Chamberlain without pay.

...

It was in the parking lot at the Dandy Mary when witnesses said that Laceyville cop was selling an AK-47 out of the back of his police cruiser. People said it was bad enough that he was selling the gun, but at one point he walked away from his vehicle and the AK-47.

SAN BRUNO, CA — An innocent family was terrorized when masked, gun-wielding police officers performed a surprise pre-dawn raid on their home. One woman was flung into the front yard unclothed and a 93-year-old grandmother was so badly traumatized that she had to be hospitalized.

The intrusion resulted when the San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force performed a sloppy investigation of a man suspected of wearing “gang colors” and getting high without government permission.

...

The raid team managed to strike the address listed on the warrant, but — as we have often seen — the warrant itself contained false information. The error stemmed from the fact that the listed address was a building comprised of 3 separate living units, two of which had nothing to do with the investigation. The warrant made no distinction, exposing completely unrelated parties to an unsolicited helping of law and order.

At 6:30 a.m. July 2, Lisa Yeager was dressed only in a bra and panties while dressing for work when the masked officers arrived with assault rifles, according to the suit that states she opened the door and was thrown into a wall with such force she lost control of her bladder.

Yeager was dragged from the home onto the front lawn where her dog had relieved himself and was restrained half naked in urine-soaked underwear for more than 15 minutes “for the whole world to see,” the suit stated.

Yeager’s adult son, Jesse, was similarly manhandled and ordered to “crawl on his knees in the dog feces to join his half-naked mother in clear view of the onlooking neighbors,” the suit states.

Once allowed back in the house after officers determined they were not in the Uribe residence, Yeager showed her bruised body and was told by an officer that “a little bit of ice and it will be OK,” the suit stated.

Apparently, after teh video ends he went back to his cruiser to show him the law, which is this:

Quote:

1. No radar detector or laser detector shall be used in any motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than eighteen thousand pounds or in any commercial vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than ten thousand pounds. The presence in such vehicle of a radar detector or laser detector connected to a power source and in an operable condition is presumptive evidence of its use by any person operating such vehicle. Such presumption shall be rebutted by any credible and reliable evidence which tends to show that such radar detector or laser detector was not in use. 2. The provisions of this section shall not be construed as authorizing the seizure or forfeiture of a radar detector or laser detector, unless otherwise provided by law. 3. A violation of the provisions of this section shall constitute a traffic infraction punishable by a fine of not less than twenty-five nor more than one hundred dollars.

Only police officers get to be "less nice" by physically assaulting you without repercussions.

An excellent point.

We all know that there are certain classes of people that it's "ok" to be rude to, inasmuch as that we can do so without any real fear of consequences. The homeless guy in the subway station, the girl running the checkout register, the kids standing outside the supermarket begging for money for some youth activity league, the Greenpeace activist collecting signatures on a petition to halt all construction everywhere... In all of these situations, we can say "Go **** yourself, you infantile moron," and rest easy knowing that they have no means of recourse against us.

Then there are other classes of people against whom we might wish to express rudeness, but we restrain ourselves because we fear reprisal. Tell off the snooty waitress? Your dinner might come with "special sauce" on it. Tell off the haggard ticket agent at the airport? Enjoy the middle seat next to the lavatory just in front of that nice woman with the three screaming children. Tell off the punk kid working valet parking? I swear, that semen stain on the upholstery was already there when you brought the car in.

So why is it that a small minority of citizens feel that it's perfectly ok to be a complete and utter ******* to the one person who has more power than anyone else to really ruin your day and expect no consequences?

So why is it that a small minority of citizens feel that it's perfectly ok to be a complete and utter ******* to the one person who has more power than anyone else to really ruin your day and expect no consequences?

That sounds like a diagnosable mental defect to me.

Seems like your underlying premise is that these people, despite coming mainly from backgrounds of entirely average upbringing and education, should be expected to be perfect, flawless, emotionless citizens obedient to all demands from police officers regardless of legality or reasonableness.

Seems like your underlying premise is that these people, despite coming mainly from backgrounds of entirely average upbringing and education, should be expected to be perfect, flawless, emotionless citizens obedient to all demands from police officers regardless of legality or reasonableness.

It's unfortunate that you take such a binary view of matters such as this. Reductio ad absurdum can be a useful tool in certain contexts, but is usually antithetical to productive discourse.

It's unfortunate that you take such a binary view of matters such as this. Reductio ad absurdum can be a useful tool in certain contexts, but is usually antithetical to productive discourse.

I think it's unfortunate that your argument is essentially that being rude to a cop is like poking a bear, ignoring the fact that cops are moral agents and are thus responsible for their actions. No amount of discussion on how unwise or imprudent the actions of the victim changes the fact that they are the victim, because the cop chose to react with unjust force.